Author's Note: Written for…
Spellbound Competition. Prompt: permanent sticking charm
The Percy Weasley Challenge.
"It's so fluffy, I'm gonna die!" Challenge.
Permanent
Percy was always a fast learner; it was just the practice that was the hard part.
He could tell you almost every rule and regulation in Quidditch from overhearing his parents and older brothers talking about the game so much but put the boy on a broom and he was completely lost. The same was true for his studies.
Molly started tutoring each of the boys after their fifth birthdays. Bill and Charlie were good students, but they let their minds wander too often. Studying was something they did to appease their mum so they could go and play. Percy actually enjoyed it. Even after he was finished his homework for the day, he would lie on his bed and flip through his and his brothers' textbooks.
There was no concept Percy couldn't grasp, but it frustrated him that he couldn't put his knowledge to the test and practice some spells.
"You're too young, dear," Molly had to tell him nearly every day now. "You'll learn all that when you go to school."
That kind of answer may have satisfied his brothers, but Percy was impatient. And hadn't his mother been telling him for years how clever he was? Surely he could manage a few simple spells…
He waited until his parents were putting the twins to bed. Ron and Ginny were already asleep in their cribs, but the twins were four now and had a never-ending supply of energy. It took Molly and Arthur ages to get them to stay in bed, and Percy knew he'd have some time.
His mum's wand was locked in the top drawer of her nightstand, where the twins couldn't get at it. It was easier to get to than his dad's, which the man always kept on his person.
Percy's managed to sneak the nightstand key from Molly's apron earlier in the day, and wasted no time in running into his parents' room to use it as soon as he heard them wrestling Fred and George into a bath. Once he had the wand in hand, he ran to his room and shut the door.
Now to decide on what spell to try out…
He grabbed the nearest book and flipped it open to a random page number. The boy thought by the look of the spine that it was his usual book of charms, forgetting that Bill's textbook was the same shade of green.
The spell the book opened to looked simple enough. From what the six-year-old gathered, it was just an adhesive. The incantation itself was a bit tricky and it took him some time to wrap his mouth around it, but once he had the word memorized, he grasped his mother's wand and looked around for something to practice on.
He wanted something that would prove to his mother that he was old enough and clever enough to be doing magic on his own – a daily reminder – so he snuck downstairs and took a picture off the wall. It was one of the entire family, taken just days after Ginny was born. It was his mother's favorite, he knew.
He brought it to his parents' room and held it up on the wall with one hand while the other focused on the movements of the wand. He repeated the incantation half a dozen times before it took, his voice growing louder with each try before he was practically shouting. But in the end he pulled his hand away and the picture stayed in place.
"What in the name of Merlin is going on in here?" his mother demanded, barging into the room.
Percy immediately dropped the wand, fearing punishment.
"Percival Ignatius Weasley, were you using my wand?" The boy nodded slowly, then pointed at the wall with a little smile. Molly followed his line of sight, gasping when she saw the family picture.
"I did it for you, Mummy, so you can always see it," Percy said quietly, worried that she didn't appreciate the gesture.
"Yes, dear. It's very nice," she managed to get out, keeping her voice even as she picked up her wand and tried some spells on the picture. No matter what she did, it remained in place. "Sweetie, can you show me the spell you used on the picture?"
Percy nodded and ran out of the room, returning with the spell book. Arthur shuffled in behind him.
"What's the matter?" he asked, immediately noticing the worried expression on his wife's face.
"We can't keep the wands anywhere near the children anymore, that's what's the matter," she said through clenched teeth, shoving the book into his hands, still open to the page detailing the proper way to perform a permanent sticking charm.